Last week there were reports all over the local birding
blogs of up to 13 Ring Ouzels (turdus
torquatus) being spotted on Ivinghoe Beacon. The Beacon is a well known
feeding and 'resting up' point for the
birds during their Spring migration from
their winter home in the Mediterranean region
back to their breeding sites in the remote highlands of the North of England,
Scotland and Scandinavia.
So, on Saturday I made a phone call to Keith and we arranged
to meet at the Beacon car park at 6 o'clock the next (Sunday) morning. Keith
had already been to the Beacon on the Saturday morning but readily agreed to
another visit!! (see his blog here)
Sunday morning dawned cold and frosty (-3 degrees C overnight) but a clear sky was heralding the prospect of a sunny
day. After meeting at the appointed hour
and a quick cup of coffee (thanks Keith!) we started to walk down the path to
the Beacon. In the silence of the early morning we heard a sound... "what
was that", said Keith," did
you hear it?.. sounds like elephants! " Then we heard it again..." no !" I
said, "I reckon it sounds like lions roaring"....then the penny
dropped what we could hear were the lions roaring from Whipsnade (London) zoo,
about two and a half miles away across
the valley, we were on our own little safari !!
Whipsnade chalk Lion with the zoo and Hippo house in the background
After noting Chiffchaff, a Nuthatch and Linnets we soon arrived
at the area where the Ring Ouzels, about ten, were already showing well in the
early morning sun. Unfortunately the sun was behind the birds, not in the
perfect position for photography!
Also showing well were about eight to ten Wheatears.
Occasionally little
skirmishes would break out.
Keith feeling all penned in...or was he on the lookout for Lions?
Skylarks 'performing' in the clear blue sky and Meadow
Pipits posing on prominent perches also added interest to the scene.
Have you ever had one of those moments when your mind starts
to drift off and you start to 'see'
things that are not really there? well,
I had one of those moments and saw Snoopy
flying through the sky!!...what do you think?
So after around five and a half hours of excellent 'Ouzel
watching it was time to call it a day and make our way back to the cars and home, via a brief visit
to a nearby Bluebell wood (see Keith's excellent imagehere).
I enjoyed the day so much that I decided to go back for
another visit on the Monday morning!
Again the birds were showing well. Unfortunately the day was
spoilt by a few mindless people - idiots - and mostly photographers I'm ashamed
to say, who decided it was good practice to stalk and chase the birds across
the entire hillside.
Don't these people
realise that the birds need to rest and
feed up to be able to continue on their long migration journey, and if they
just pick a spot, stand quietly and wait, most birds will eventually 'come' to
them? Rant over!
On the way back to the car this Chiffchaff was singing his
heart out from his lofty perch.
I did take some video, not very good I'm afraid ...but
anyway, here it is!!
Last Monday evening the weatherman said that Tuesday was
going to have temperatures above the seasonal average and after the early cloud
had thinned there would be sunny spells....NAH!!....
.....It was cold, damp and foggy where I was!!
As I hadn't been for some time I decided, on the strength of
the weather forecast, to visit Ivinghoe Beacon. I left home in mild slightly
overcast conditions and drove the 8.5 miles to the Beacon car park. It was a
quite foggy when I arrived, and after about 20 minutes of sitting and waiting in the car the fog didn't seem to be clearing, but the weatherman did say it would clear
later so I was not really concerned!
So, off I set with binoculars, DSLR (fitted with the 400mm
'birding' lens) and my video camera in the hope of some good bird pictures....as
you've probably guessed by now the weather man is an a..e and the fog and mist
stayed all day, so no bird pictures.
However, I did manage to take quite a bit of video footage of
my walk to the top of the Beacon....in the fog!
After all the editing
was done I had a video of about 15 minutes long, so to spare you the agony of
watching the whole thing I've split it into two shorter videos.... giving you
the opportunity to skip out after the first one!!
Not only are there two videos for you to plough through but
you've got to suffer listening to my voice as well...yes! it's my first attempt
at 'talkies'!! I should now apologise
for the stilted commentary and the long pauses but I'm still having trouble,
thinking about what to say, and then saying it, whilst still pointing the
camera in the right direction!!
So, I hope you find the videos interesting and I look
forward to your comments, but please don't hold back, say it as it is, in the
hope that I can take heed and improve for next time....Aaargggh!! he's not
going to do some more, is he? I can hear you say......Well, maybe!!
Now the P.SS.D OFF bit...This post was supposed to happen
yesterday but after spending four and a half hours trying to upload the videos
to YouTube only to have them 'fail' with just minutes to go I said.. 'oh dear,
never mind'!!!!.. and went to bed. At
5.30 this morning they both loaded in about twenty minutes each......I hate
YouTube...[:-{{
A couple of days ago, in patchy Autumn sunshine and dark
clouds, I went for a walk around my local patch....Ashridge Estate, Ivinghoe
Beacon hills and Incombe Hole. Whilst the sun was shining the golds and reds of
Autumn made for a stunning display.
Ashridge
Looking East from the base of Ivinghoe Beacon
Whitebeam (I think!)
Beech
And finally.... I spied this chap admiring the view whilst taking a ride on a
passing cloud!
As I mentioned in my previous post once the saga of the shed
was solved I managed to get out for a spot of bird watching.
I'd been reading on the local bird reports that a few
migrants had turned up around Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire so decided to
take a look.
It was chilly and
rather blustery (as it invariably is
around the beacon) with some long sunny
periods between the rather dark and threatening clouds. I soon located the
birds exactly where they had been reported to be, unfortunately I came upon
them rather abruptly and they took flight and went into hiding in the nearby
bushes. I thought if it's good enough for them it's good enough for me and concealed
myself as best I could with a good view over the area where the birds had been.
I didn't have to wait long before they returned affording good if a little
distant views.
Male Stonechat
Female Stonechat
Juvenile Stonechat
Stonechat Female or Juvenile?
Wheatear
And finally.... a lifer for me, a Female Whinchat
Amongst some
of the more common birds I saw where a large charm of Goldfinch feeding on
thistle heads, a large flock of Meadow Pipits feeding in a recently tilled
field, a Green Woodpecker and a hunting Kestrel. Also on the wing were Speckled
Wood, Red Admiral and Small Heath butterflies.
All in all an
enjoyable, if rather blustery, few hours birding.
I've found some mystery red spots.........no, no, it's not what you're thinking..... I'll start again!
I've noticedthat a few of the butterflies that I've photographed recently have some prominent red spots/ swellings on their bodies. I've not seen anything like this in previous years, and after doing some research I'm still no nearer solving the mystery as to what they might be.
Over to you!
Common Blue male taken near Weymouth Dorset on 30th June
Common Blue coupled pair taken in Incombe Hole Buckinghamshire on 22nd July
Common Blue taken on 24th July also in Incombe Hole.
Marbled White taken on 24th July at the base of Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire. (not a good photograph but it does show the offending spots!)
As promised here are some Butterfly images taken on my walk around the area between Ivinghoe Beacon and (including) Incombe Hole.
The most numerous butterfly by far was the Small Heath.
Small Heath
Small Heath (coupled pair)
Followed closely by -
Dingy Skipper
Grizzled Skipper
This was the first time I had seen or photographed a Grizzled Skipper. ("I'll be back" as the saying goes!)
Other butterflies seen and photographed were -
Small Blue (male)
Small Blue (male)
Brown Argus (male)
Common Blue (male)
A rather tatty Speckled Wood
And...... Can you see me?
A well "hidden" female Brimstone
On the way home I decided, on the off chance, to stop off at a location were last year I had photographed a White-legged Damselfly. And it was not long before I spotted two in exactly the same place.
White-legged Damselfly
And as a bonus perched close by was a Large Skipper.......
......a full two to three weeks earlier than last year!
In part three of this series I'll post images of the wild flowers seen during my walk.
